The present invention relates in general to anti-pollution devices and in particular to refuse balers.
Air pollution has long been a problem. In large cities in particular the problems is especially acute. It is recognized that many deaths of the elderly and of those afflicted with respiratory diseases are attributable to air pollution. It has been noted that the death incidence of such people is markedly higher during high-pollution periods.
One source of air pollution is discharge from incinerators in which refuse, particularly paper and cardboard, is burned. Enormous quantities of shipping containers, alone, are disposed of daily by businesses of all types. Many food stores, for example, have long disposed of the cardboard boxes in which their canned and dry goods are delivered by burning them in incinerators.
Incineration as a form of disposal is objectionable on the further ground that it precludes recycling the material incinerated and is thus wasteful of natural resources. In the case of paper products disposed of by burning, new timber must be cut to product papers that could otherwise have come from the burned paper. An exploding population whose consumption per capita of combustible materials continues to rise, places an ever increasing demand on our natural resources.
An alternative to incineration which is nonpolluting and which permits recycling is baling. Devices which compact refuse such as paper and cardboard into a bale and secure the bale with some form of tie such as wire have long been known.
According to my invention I provide a baler which makes it economically practical to dispose of refuse by baling. I provide a baler which is inexpensive to construct and operate. It can be lightweight and small enough to be easily portable while nonetheless providing a large pressing force throughout a long pressing stroke to produce large, compact bales. My baler, besides being easy to operate, incorporates other labor and operating cost saving features including a specially designed, long-wearing door latch which operates with a minimum of friction to have a long life and require a minimum of maintenance. Another labor saving feature is a bale ejection mechanism which facilitates easy and quick removal of a completed bale.